While some girls were playing barbie, dress up, board games, and whatever young girls used to do..I was OBSESSED with fashion, and the gamut of super models (the “originals”: Naomi, Cindy, Claudia, Linda, Christy, Kate), luxe clothing and artful make up techniques. Right down to the clothing construction, paired accessories and colourful crafty make up of the runways and original haute couture houses of high fashion.

I made or altered my own clothes and accessories for special events and functions, learned how to sew, had an abnormal love for Kevin Aucoin’s giant book of make up artistry, a shoe collection that could rival Imelda Marcos’ (although probably not as high end) and so on.

So, when it came time to choose a career, it was no wonder I got into fashion buying (fashion design was tempting, but very saturated and likely also meant moving far away from family and friends in Toronto to be able to “make it” – no thanks).

I was a buyer for some of Canada’s biggest and best retailers for the better part of a decade. I did everything from private line development for private labels in-house, all the way to large established line buying. Ladies’ collection, to ladies’ apparel to fine jewelry, watches, Tiffany and so on.

I was stopped all the time by friends and family gushing over my career.

Sounds like a dream right? I literally got to “shop”for a living.

Well, that’s what I THOUGHT it would be like, but the reality of it was very different.

Picture “The Devil Wears Prada” but with far less glamour, free stuff and polished editing. Dreadful. But it (barely) paid the bills and I was afraid to back out after having the education and put in the time to get where I thought I was meant to be.

While I’m SO grateful for the chance to have what I thought was my “dream job”, I realized I was in front of a computer at least 80% of the time in a stuffy office, and the times I did get to travel for purchasing I was squashed in a room with an, ahem, less than pleasant boss (she made Meryl Streep seem like a sweet little kitten) where I took the pull out couch and literally had to sneak past her room to get to the shared bathroom. Um, no thanks.

Add to that an industry known for it’s superficial pettiness, not so pleasant colleagues usually after your job or viciously protecting their own, and the fact that I wasn’t exactly changing the world by providing a large retailer with more “stuff” to sell to people, and it was a recipe for deep dissatisfaction and emptiness.

Looking back, it took seeing that what I thought would make me happy may not actually be the best choice. I’m super grateful for the experience because it taught me how to recognize the markers for what would truly make me happy.

And isn’t that what life is all about? Doing the things that make your soul shine? Finding your purpose/passion and living with intention? (The people around you can tell the difference even if you can’t yet.)

I know that’s what we are each here for, but it’s up to us to recognize that in ourselves and give ourselves permission to go for it.

I also met some incredible people (despite the evil ones) who are still dear and awesome friends of mine to this day.

So, I picked up and I left.I quit. With NO backup plan. But I had trust.Trust that whatever I was meant to do would surface and I wasn’t giving myself an out. It had to.

I’ve been an entrepreneur many times over for the past 11 years now, and have never once looked back (accept for in deep gratitude).

I was able to use my education in design for my first business. Tank goddess the lessons you pick up along the way in any business are super valuable to life, family, and everything really.

I now have multiple businesses, but my TRUE JOY these days is teaching people, through a simple recipe for success, how to create a life of personal FREEDOM and CHOICES for themselves and their families. When we have CHOICES we get to create a life WE truly love, not the one assigned to us by anyone else.

Oh, and I also learned that, while fashion may not have been the best career choice for me, it’s still a fabulous hobby.